Should I cut the Healthy Extra's?

[betterme]

Hi guys

I'm a newbie to SW. My family have been on the diet for weeks and they have been losing lots of weight every week. The first week I lost 4.5lbs. This week I lost 0.5lbs. As you can imagine I'm really gutted and I'm struggling to maintain motivation. So far this diet has just made me realise how much I need to lose (I have found family members are much harsher about your weight if they think they're helping your motivation :cry and now the hope of a slimmer me is fading.

My Dad, my SW hero, has no healthy extra's. Ever. He is sure that this is my problem, whereas my sister (who I'll admit is losing less than my Dad) is telling me to keep the healthy extras.

I really don't want to have to go without my weetabix, but what do you think? If it's the difference between losing a reasonable amount of weight or weetabix, I know which I'd rather.

So what would you suggest?

 

[gwennypenny]

I'm new to this too, but I would imagine that cutting the HEXs is not a good idea as they're there to make sure you get calcium and fibre etc.

What plan are you following?

Maybe you could post a food diary to let some more knowledgeable folks have a look at it?

Although, I have to say, a 0.5lbs loss is good! We all lose at different rates, and next week you might find you've lost more.

 

[betterme]

Thanks. I'm following Extra Easy.

MOST days are as follows:
Breakfast: 2 Weetabix, tiniest bit of skimmed milk with plenty of strawberries and raspberries.
Lunch: Fruit. Apple, pineapple, grapes etc. (It's more of a grazing of fruit really over 2-3 hours. My bad.)
Dinner: Meat (eg Chicken, Gammon) lots of veg (Usually 3 types: Brocolli, green beans, carrots or asparagus), and gravy. Honestly, I am very generous with the gravy serving.
Snack: Strawberries, grapes, raspberries in muller light fat free yoghurt.

My only syns are from gravy (or so I believe) and I barely have any milk. I like my weetabix nice and crunchy.

Honestly it was more like 0.25lb or STS I was just rounding up to make myself feel better . And I would ideally like to shift this next stone in 9-10 weeks! My Dad and sister are bigger than I am, but they are still losing several pounds a week. And she's not THAT much bigger than me. And I definitely feel I eat healthier than both of them as I have barely any syns!

I don't do any exercise. Is this a problem?

Good luck with SW btw!

 

[Shrimpy]

You really should have your healthy extras- your milk is important and calcium helps your body get rid of fat. You don't seem to be weighing and measuring, that's where I would start. Read through your green food optimising book and make sure you really are following it to the letter. I'd DIE of starvation if all I ate for lunch was a few bits of fruit. Where are your green foods- i.e. pasta, cous cous, rice etc?

Have a good read of other people's diaries. I think you are eating too little - you need to feed your body ENOUGH for it to burn the fat.

 

[babypat]

I think u need to have ur healthy extras. It's not negotiable. They are very necessary so as to nourish ur body. Good luck

 

[HPSaucy]

It's good that you're eating lots of fruit and veg but it doesn't seem to me that you're eating enough "substance", where's your potatoes, pasta etc, and for your lunch you've only got fruit.

I'd say you need your healthy extras, last time I did SW my losses were slow but I hardly ever had them, this time I'm making sure I have them, all bar a slip up every now and again.

Also I find my losses better when I have my syns, I measure almost everything, if you're only have a tiny bit of milk on your cereal then thats probably not a HEA, what about having cheese? You'd be surprised how the syns in gravy add up so you should count how many teaspoons you use and syns accordingly.

This week why don't you try having lunch, getting your HE's and count your syns and see how you get on, best of luck x

 

[AnnaFaraday]

You have lost five pounds in two weeks. If it had been say three pounds the first week and two pounds the second week, would you be so upset?

I think probably not. Perhaps you need to take the longer view. Your weight loss will fluctuate, week by week, and you probably won't know why - that's just the way it is.

And you aren't in competition with your family. They are not you - they are different. They are going to be losing weight at different rates - even if you ate exactly the same thing as someone else, all week, without exception, you would probably not lose the same amounts.

Looking at your list of food, two things are obvious. Not enough calcium - hardly any milk, no cheese, and only a bit of yogurt. There is some calcium in vegetables, of course, but you need to watch your calcium intake - it is important for your bones, especially in later life, and there are studies which show that increased calcium intake can help with weightloss.

The other thing is - where is your lunch? Fruit is not lunch. You need some protein in there to get you through the day. Some eggs, some cold meat, something like that.

And as someone else has mentioned, watch out for the gravy. You don't say how you are making this, and you are a bit vague about how much you are having, and there are usually syns involved in gravy (can't stand the stuff myself, so I don't know how many).

So basically, you are doing well, so keep on going. You will have good weeks, better weeks, and bad weeks. We all do.

 

[betterme]

Thanks guys. I hadn't thought of it as 5lb in 2 weeks. I am pleased with that.

I thought actually that I didn't have to weigh and measure for this diet? But I will start.

And today I had chicken and ham salad with a couple of potatoes in it for lunch. Thanks for being motivational!

Gravy is Bisto with oxo cube. I'll have about 1/4 of a pint.. so 1 oxo cube and 2 teaspoons. I don't know how many syns that is.

The yoghurt has quite a bit of calcium in, but I'll use milk as my HEA.

Thanks guys! I don't actually go to meetings and usually just rely on what my family tells me to do, so that's probably why I'm not sticking to the plan as well as I should. Which is a shame because I'm doing what I think is right! I have more faith now though that this will work.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

You don't have to weigh and measure free foods. But you do have to with healthy extras and syns.

Stock cubes are free. I don't know what you mean by bisto - is that gravy granules? There are syns in those - someone else here can tell you how many.

 

[Beegee]

I agree that you're not eating nearly enough but also you really don't have very much weight to lose. You can't necessarily expect big losses when you're so close to target. Hang in there and it will happen!

 

[lentil2]

You also mention that you are eating 'healthier than both them as you barely have any syns'. Can I just say that syns are as much part of the SW plan as the free food and the HE a's and b's.....leaving them out does not mean you are eating healthier, it means you aren't following the plan!
Eat your syns and enjoy them....you don't have to use them on unhealthy foods, you can use them on a whole list of healthy foods.

Also, looking at your stats, you don't actually have a massive amount of weight to lose, so it's not going to drop off you at a rate of several pounds each week. Try and average your losses out over a month to get a more acurate weightloss.

 

[Laura1983]

Hi, here are my thoughts

• Not enough syns - you need to be eating 5-15 a day, I stick at around 8-10. It will not slow your weight loss, they are important! If you put your day's menu into a calorie calculator (I know we don't count calories here but bear with me), I bet you that you are under 1200 a day, and that's when starvation mode kicks in and actually causes your body to cling onto it's fat! Don't be afraid to eat more

• There is such a thing as too much fruit, it's full of natural sugars which don't agree with everyone (including me)

• As everyone else has said, you need more substance and calcium. With your chicken and veg, why don't you have some potatoes too? You can do SW 'roasties' by par-boiling your potatoes then roasting in fry light, or make yummy SW chips!

Best of luck, stick with it!

 

[betterme]

Thank you guys.
I've taken everything you've taken into consideration and I'm eating my healthy extra's and I'm having at least 5 syns a day. (GLADLY) I've wrote my day menu's in my SW diary if you wouldn't mind having a peak just to make sure I'm doing it right! But I think I should be now.

SW chips and roasties... I LOVE THEM.

Oh I was just wondering also, I do EE everyday. Is that okay? Or is it the rules of the SW diet to alternate between red days, green days and EE days?

 

[alwyn]

It's your choice as to which day you do - some people stick to the same days all through their weight loss, some people mix it up a bit. It's entirely your choice!

 

[betterme]

Oh great! Thanks!

 

[alwyn]

Just make sure that if you're doing EE all the time, that you're having at least 1/3 of your plate as superfree!!

It's essential

 

[Brightonrosie]

Please please please don't compare your weight loss with that of a man. Stats show that men lose much quicker than women. Also as a reminder look at my picture at the bottom of my signature. With so little to lose 2lb per month is fine Good luck x

 

[betterme]

Oh. WOW. I can't believe that's only a lb!! To think I have about 12 times that in my body that needs getting rid of. YUK!

 

[ermintrude]

Oh. WOW. I can't believe that's only a lb!! To think I have about 12 times that in my body that needs getting rid of. YUK!

12? Ive got rid of 58 of 'em already!

 

[ermintrude]

Sorry, that wasnt meant in a bad way We've all got different amounts to lose